Electronic commerce permits buyers to purchase products, services, and other items from sellers via data networks such as the Internet. In some cases, a seller provides a web site that both contains information about the items offered for sale by the seller and enables buyers to place orders for these items.
While some electronic commerce sellers provide their own individual web sites, other sellers may offer items for sale within a “multiple-seller marketplace,” a single web site that enables buyers to place orders with any of a number of different sellers.
An operator of a multiple-seller marketplace may be motivated to ensure that sellers that participate in the marketplace to adhere to high standards. Some marketplaces may promote to buyers sellers that do adhere to high standards, which can help to build trust in these sellers, and marketplace as a whole.
Conventionally, marketplace operators solicit feedback on sellers from buyers—typically a quantitative rating and/or textual narrative—and publish this feedback to buyers in the marketplace.
This conventional approach has several significant disadvantages. First, the ratings can be unfairly manipulated by buyers, or even by sellers impersonating buyers. Second, the ratings omit potentially important information, such as information: (1) known only to the infrastructure provider, (2) whose provision does not specifically occur to past buyers, or (3) whose importance does not occur to future buyers.
In view of these disadvantages, a more robust approach to rating sellers in a multiple-seller marketplace would have significant utility.